Steve McIntosh Report Blog

Huelskamp, Obama, and Kapaun

by Steve McIntosh,posted Aug 12 2013 1:28AM

A recent editorial page offering in the Wichita Eagle quotes U-S Representative Tim Huelskamp of Kansas as saying of the late Father Emile Kapaun that if he had “served in Afghanistan today rather than Korea six decades ago, President Obama would probably give the Catholic priest discharge papers instead of the Congressional Medal of Honor”.
What an odd thing to say.
Huelskamp may have been referring to the Defense Department policy against “unwanted, intrusive attempts to convert” service members.
There is no record that Father Kapaun tried to convert anyone in Korea. There are records of Jews, Protestants, and atheists who grew to love Father Kapaun for his unselfish care in that awful Korean prison camp.
My son served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and never mentioned anyone trying to convert him. Believe me, Scott would have mentioned it.
I can only conclude that Huelskamp’s referral to Obama and Kapaun was entirely politically motivated. And a bit clumsy, I might add.